Wednesday, October 7, 2009

The Warm Welcome Home

Thank you Algalita and friends for the warm welcome home. Marieta Francis and Jeanne Gallagher - you two were a sight for sore eyes. Along with many others including Jeff's parents, Kent and Kathy Ernst.

The last few miles in, I sat on the bow ready to video any sea lions or dolphins sightings so I could send a picture back to Vicki Rivenbark's class at Holly Tree School back in Wilmington, NC. The only thing we saw as we neared Alamitos Bay was plastic trash making its way out to sea as we headed in. Things like Styrofoam containers, chip bags, bottles, and even a soccerball accompanied by a bottle. But the most disturbing was actually witnessing a seagull pecking at a floating plastic bag. "It looked like we were back in the gyre." Lindsey turned to me and said, "This is where it all starts." Thank goodness the Algalita supporters where out there to distract us. It was all too overwhelming to see so much trash in its origin- from land. It played out like a scene in "The Twilight Zone." I, personally, felt like our trip out into the gyre was some kind of victory, only to return to business as usual. The jaded twist to the end of our journey.

It's going to take a lot more people, like Marieta, willing to lend a hand not letting plastic pollution go out to sea.

I do have a better ending to our last night together though. We left Avalon early Tuesday morning after a dinner the night before at the The Lobster Pot. The waiter asked us where we would like to sit and Lindsey, spying a table for six elevated by a handful of steps into the back of a sawed off boat, said "How about there?" We all looked at the stern nestled up against the wall, shrugged, and climbed the stairs. Why not, what was one more meal elbow to elbow enclosed by the sides of a boat.

1 comment:

Anonymous
said...

Hi Captain and Crew, I'm sure that we need a comment here, something to the effect that although the voyage is over, there is a lot of work to be done. Specifically, the Lab Analysis of the samples which were brought back. Our Gyre Technical Engineering Team is gearing up to work with Algalita. What a wonderful voyage, definitely historical. And a great blog, which made it exciting for the rest of us. Tim - Surfrider

AMRF news and projects

Winter Gyre 08 Expedition Research

On January 2oth, 2008 ORV Alguita set out on a winter expedition through the North Pacific Gyre, sailing from Hilo, HI to Los Angeles, CA to conduct further research on oceanic plastic debris. The crew of 6 collected samples for lab analysis, as well as for future Algalita Marine Research Foundation education projects.

Analysis from Algalita's September 2007 expedition shows a five fold increase in plastic quantities in the Gyre since Captain Charles Moore began his research in 1997. The data gathered during the winter of 08 once again showed an increase in the density of small plastic particles. We also discovered alarming trends in the consumption of these small particles in Myctophidae species caught in night manta trawls. A new area of research that we intend to pursue further in the 2009 voyage

September Gyre Expedition, 2007

ORV Alguita departed Long Beach California on September 9, 2007 for a three week voyage out to the eastern "Garbage Patch" in the Pacific Gyre. During this extended voyage the vessel's 6 person research team collected samples to help answer questions about the growing amount of plastic in the ocean.